Photo: Steven King/Icon Sportswire

Let’s get right to the point: This article will take a look at which teams have lost the most Total Points due to injuries during the 2024 season.

As you can see, the top 5 teams in Total Points Lost due to in-season injuries were all playoff teams last season, with the Browns and the Buccaneers leading the way. The Bucs secondary comes in at fifth overall as they’ve been without their newly-paid safety, Antoine Winfield Jr.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs sit atop of the NFC South at 3-1 despite being ravaged by injury to start the season. Injuries to Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey have impacted their defensive front, but the back-end losses of Winfield and Bryce Hall might sting more.

Among all safeties in 2023, Winfield led the league in Total Points along with being the best in run support. Now, he’s played in only one game in 2024, but there appears to be a schematic change to account for the absences of Winfield (and Hall).

Antoine Winfield Jr. On/Off Splits, 2024

Despite adding an extra man to the box, the Bucs are still feeling the loss of Winfield in the run game as their run defense has dropped 6 EPA per 60 plays with him sidelined due to injury.

In the pass game, they’ve actually been pretty successful, leaning more heavily into single-high looks despite missing their top back-end weapon. Excluding screen plays, the Bucs have run single-high coverages on 51% of pass plays in Weeks 2 through 4, compared to just 27% in Week 1 against the Commanders.

Bucs fans should be hoping that Winfield’s eventual return from his foot injury will yield better results against the run and build on their recent success against the pass.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns are banged up at seemingly every position group, affecting both the offense and defense equally, with 16 Total Points lost on each side of the ball. This doesn’t even account for superstar DE Myles Garrett playing through injury or Nick Chubb, as he was injured last season and does not count in this dataset.

The Browns rank top 5 in Total Points lost due to in-season injury in every position group, excluding quarterbacks. The Browns need key players OT Jack Conklin and TE David Njoku to return along with some of the several key players they have on Injured Reserve, such as S Juan Thornhill, OG Wyatt Teller, and LB Tony Fields II, to try and salvage their season before it spirals out of control after a 1-3 start.

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams have embodied the “Next Man Up” philosophy this year offensively as their WR and OL rooms have been without several key players. They have adjusted their offensive scheme by running the ball more, with their last two games at a near 50/50 Run/Pass split. The emphasis in the run game has paid off dividends, as we can see in the table below:

Granted, they played about one good half of football the first two weeks, but their overall offensive numbers have improved since they’ve had to play without Kupp and Nacua. Credit needs to be given to the Rams offensive coaching staff and QB Matthew Stafford, as he ranks 9th in Total Points among QBs this year despite a weakened supporting cast due to injury. The Rams seem to have figured out something that is working for them while shorthanded and they get a much-needed bye week in Week 6 to get healthy.

Healthiest teams so far

 These teams have lost the least Total Points due to in-season injury in 2024.

The Chiefs and Cowboys show up on this list, but both of these teams lost key players to injury on Sunday in WR Rashee Rice and ED Micah Parsons. Parsons suffered a high ankle sprain and does not expect to be out as long as Rice, but both will be sorely missed, as Parsons ranked 5th last year in Pass Rush Total Points and Rice was a top-20 receiver by Total Points per route so far this year.

The Cowboys travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday night before four straight games against NFC foes in the Lions, 49ers, Falcons, and Eagles. Cowboys’ fans will be hoping Parsons can return during that key stretch that could have playoff seeding implications.